Pentax K-5 II versus rival model with similar score

Further readings for the Pentax K-5 II

To provide photographers with a broader perspective about mobiles, lenses and cameras, here are links to articles, reviews, and analyses of photographic equipment produced by DxOMark, renown websites, magazines or blogs.

Pentax has launched a new entry-level DSLR featuring an unconventional design with flashing green LED lights in the handgrip. Boasting some ‘user-friendly’ modifications and available in 12 colours, Pentax are hoping the new K-S1 appeals to consumers yet to switch to a DSLR. We get under the hood to find out more.

With the 2014 World Cup in Brazil approaching, this is the time manufacturers with serious interests in professional sports start revealing new cameras and lenses to selected press agencies. Both Canon and Nikon are rumored to be fielding prototype professional-level APS-C bodies during the tournament for testing. However, rival Sony appears to have stolen a march by introducing the SLT Alpha 77 II ahead of the games.

Nikon’s incremental revisions to their entry-level D3000 series cameras means the latest model, the Nikon D3300 can compete with most other models in the range and should prove tempting against rival offerings. Read on to find out how the 24-Mpix sans AA filter D3300 performs.

Although the Pentax K-5 II and K-5 IIs have now been replaced by the Pentax K-3, we’ve analyzed the two models with a range of lenses from both Pentax and third-party makers and thought the results would be of interest to our readers. The information is available online but we taken the opportunity to offer a brief overview of the best performing models. Read on to see how well the lenses perform together on the two cameras.

Continuing our series of evaluation of lens systems we’ve assessed a modest range of Pentax and third-party lenses for their optical quality on the firm’s new flagship Pentax K-3 model. As the replacement for the K-5 II and K-5 IIs, the Pentax K-3 has a new higher pixel density 24-Mpix sensor without an AA filter, and is a promising platform for lens evaluation. Read on to find out which models perform best, and which, if any, that should be avoided.

After the success of the 16-Mpix K-5II and K-5IIs without AA filter, Pentax has replaced the pair with a new flagship model, the K-3, with a 24-Mpix sensor boasting a user-selectable AA filter for control over moiré and sharpness, depending on the situation. Read on to find out how this unique sensor performs?

Announced in June this year, the K-50 is an accessibly priced environmentally sealed DSLR featuring a built-in stabilization and a 16-MPix APS-C size CMOS sensor. As Pentax has yet to introduce a full-frame DSLR to the range the K-50, like others before it, can benefit from one of the largest lens ranges designed for the smaller APS-C sensor. The result is an appealing and unsurpassed range of compact and highly portable primes and zooms. We have analyzed the optical properties of 28 different models in total from Pentax as well as third-party makers, mounted on the new K-50, to help you in your selection either when buying new for the first time or when simply choosing which lens to take with you on your next shoot.

Following on from the distinctive styling of the K-30, the new Pentax K-50 is a mid-range, sensitively priced DSLR featuring a tried-and-tested stabilized 16-MPix CMOS sensor with fine-tuned image processing and sensor sensitivity of up to ISO 51,200. Read on to see how well it performs in our labs.

Although the new Nikon D7100 looks fairly similar to its predecessor (the popular Nikon D7000), Nikon has made some significant changes under the hood that belie the surface similarity. The D7100 not only includes a higher-resolution CMOS sensor, but even more significantly, the company chose to use a sensor without an anti-alias filter for the first time on a non-full-frame DSLR. While this should enable better sharpness and resolution, it may also result in more moiré patterns in some images.

After the introduction of the entry-level 24Mpix D3200 early last year it seemed inevitable that the rest of the firm’s APS-C (DX) range would be refreshed with the same sensor. While the gestation of the new 24Mpix D5200 has taken longer than most people could of reasonably predicted, the sensor is, in fact, a new design and the first from a different vendor for Nikon. We’ve recently put the new camera through our labs, read on to see how the new sensor performs.

Announced in September 2012 along with the Pentax K-5 II, the Pentax K-5 IIs is an almost identical camera with the exception that its anti-aliasing filter, used on the K-5 II to minimise the unwelcome effect of moiré, has been removed. But does removing the filter impact on the outstanding DxOMark Camera Sensor Ratings achieved by the K-5 II? We dissect the K-5 IIs Camera Sensor Ratings to find out.

Pentax’s new version of their very accomplished K-5 model manages to retain the top position in the Semi-Pro DSLR category against some very tough competition. Should we be disappointed that it fails to score higher than the K-5? Not really, the K-5 II incorporates a number of technology updates without damaging what was, in the K-5, a very good formula.